


casualties and tragedies

by maureenbrown



Series: femslash february [5]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Assassins & Hitmen, Angst, Assassins & Hitmen, Character Death, F/F, Romance, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-06
Updated: 2017-02-06
Packaged: 2018-09-22 08:54:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9598553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maureenbrown/pseuds/maureenbrown
Summary: Reyna sits behind her desk, fiddling with the package that holds the statistics on her next victim. Though she’s assassinated people many times, she’s still not used to the queasy drop of her stomach once she slides open the envelope. She doesn’t think she ever will be.Her praetor, otherwise known as leader, Jason Grace, has given her a month to kill her next spy, which is more time given than usual. He had ordered her to gather information against the organization they worked for, the Half-Bloods.





	

**Author's Note:**

> man, are you in for a long one. 5/28 of femslash february !!

Reyna sits behind her desk, fiddling with the package that holds the statistics on her next victim. Though she’s assassinated people many times, she’s still not used to the queasy drop of her stomach once she slides open the envelope. She doesn’t think she ever will be.

Her praetor, otherwise known as leader, Jason Grace, has given her a month to kill her next spy, which is more time given than usual. He had ordered her to gather information against the organization they worked for, the Half-Bloods.

Eventually, she stops stalling and slips the paper out of the pamphlet, scanning the information on the first page. Her stats show that her name is Piper McLean, though she may use an alias, and she’s twenty two years old. She’s Cherokee Indian, and her strengths are that she’s very persuasive. She flips the page to see her target, and her eyes fall upon a gorgeous, tan female. Her hair is a bit choppy, tumbling down her shoulders as the camera catches all of her angles perfectly without intending to. Her sharp jawline, contoured without a touch of makeup stands out, along with her perfect pink lips and startling teal eyes.

Reyna forces herself to shove the paper back in her desk, sighing quietly under her breath. This is going to be much harder than she thought.

...

Reyna arrives at the café where Piper is supposedly to go to a couple days afterwards, the light shining down through the window as she leans against the doorframe. Though the overwhelming aroma of coffee mixed with cocoa is enticing, she remains with her head tipped back, a foot out ready to look like tripping into Piper was an accident.

A couple minutes later, a girl a bit shorter that Reyna arrives, and she realizes with a start that it’s her target, unfortunately taking a couple moments to stare instead of her original plan. Instead, she recovers quickly and forces herself to walk forward, bumping into Piper purposefully, and then clapping a hand to her mouth when she turns around.

“God, I’m so sorry—“

“Cut the shit, would you?” The girl says, and there’s already a smirk on her lips.

“I… What?” Reyna asks, feigning surprise, though she’s honestly a bit frazzled.

“I know you’re a spy, too. Don’t even try to hide it.” Piper says, rolling her eyes, which are a dark green color, unlike the shade in her picture.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Reyna says resolutely, pursing her lips as she keeps up the act, putting her hands up. “I just bumped into you, I can pay for your drink if you want—“

“Oh, yeah, so you can slip some poison into it? I’m good, thank you.” Piper snorts under her breath, turning back to the front of the line with a whip of her hair. Reyna has to clench her hands at her sides to hold back from punching her, no matter how gorgeous she is.

“Listen, I’m not a spy.” She says seriously, dropping her voice to a quieter level and scrunching up her eyebrows.

“So, if I were to pat you down, I wouldn’t find a single weapon?” Piper asks, shooting a look over her shoulder, and Reyna takes a tiny step back.

“That’s what I thought.” Piper says, her mouth curling into a wicked grin, and before Reyna can react, a hand flies out to grab her wrist, vice tight.

“Going so soon?” She asks, turning again to see her and pressing their bodies closer together with a tip of her head.

Reyna stiffens, pulling at her hand to free it, trying to not cause a scene.

“Sit down with me. Have a coffee. My treat.” Piper says sweetly, surprising Reyna, and she nearly sputters.

“Please, I insist.” She says, putting her free hand on her waist and pushing her long trench coat to the side, revealing a cleverly concealed gun peeking out of her skin-tight body suit, and Reyna fights the urge to respond irrationally. Piper wouldn’t be any good to Reyna or the rest of her organization dead.

Reyna closes her eyes briefly, forcing herself to relax with a curt nod, and Piper lets her go. The glint in her eyes tells her that if she tries anything, the gun will be used for more than just decoration. She steps back carefully, still attempting to look innocent as she moves to the corner of the café, plopping herself down in the chair as she tries to wrap her mind around the situation.

She isn’t given much time to think as Piper crosses elegantly across the coffee shop, many heads turning to stare at her, then glower at Reyna in jealousy. As regal as she looks, she’d do anything to switch places with them right now.

Piper plops a coffee cup down in front of her, and then slides into the chair across from her, lifting the lid off the top of the cup and blowing casually as the steam twists around her.

“So?” Reyna prompts, ignoring her drink and gripping the side of the table to relieve her uneasiness, Piper clearly being able to see her hands so she’s aware she’s not lashing out at her.

Piper raises an eyebrow, tipping her head to the side after sipping her coffee daintily. “So? What are you doing here, Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano?”

Reyna’s breath hitches once she hears her first name, which little to no people know, especially at the way it rolls off of Piper’s tongue so fluently.

“How do you know my name?” She blurts, narrowing her eyebrows.

“The same way you know mine.” Piper replies.

“I don’t know your name.”

“I thought we agreed to cut the shit.”

“No, you just ordered it.”

“Ah, and you should probably listen to me, seeing as I’m the one with a gun.”

Reyna’s not amused with their banter, and her nostrils flare as she leans forward on the table. “How do you know I’m not armed?”

“Because you would’ve wounded me if you did.” Piper leans forward, pushing her cup to the side and resting her head on her hands. “Let me guess. You came here today early on your mission unarmed just to see what I was like. Then, you would’ve wooed me and convinced me to meet up with you again so you could gain as much information as possible.”

Reyna glares at the girl in front of her, and Piper lets out a tinkling laugh, tipping her head back slightly. “God, you spies are all the same. I would’ve expected better of you. Time after time, it’s just the same old ploy.” She says matter-of-factly as she crosses her legs.

“Don’t you dare—“Reyna starts, and Piper brings a hand up to press a perfectly manicured finger to her lips, effectively shutting her up.

“Don’t I dare, what? Mention your poor, deceased friends who tried to cross me before? Jason Grace did tell you about them, didn’t he?” Piper asks, tipping her head to the side with a fake pout.

Reyna’s expression doesn’t change, but her heart pangs. She really didn’t know anything about the deaths of her colleagues, or how linked to Piper McLean they actually were.

“I’ll let you in on a little secret.” Piper says as she leans forward, moving to take Reyna’s face in her hand as she tries not to flinch. “Nobody’s managed to best me yet, and you won’t be the first.”

Reyna huffs angrily, and Piper’s thumb swipes across her lip, her expression pitying and deceitful. “But you sure can try. I’m more than up for a challenge.”

This has nothing to do with the agency anymore, Reyna realizes. Piper’s manipulating her with her own pride and longing to achieve greatness, and it leaves a sour taste in her mouth that it’s working.

“Meet me here, next week, same time.” Reyna relents, cringing internally at her willingness to lead.

“Can’t wait.” Piper coos, before leaning forward and pressing their lips together.

...

Reyna lays in bed, wide awake, not daring to move as she keeps her arm wrapped around Piper’s waist. One month, and she’d failed her mission, fallen underneath the spell that was cast by Piper McLean.

Unlike the others before her, she presumes she fell for Piper almost immediately, though the others saw through her shroud and disguise of pity or whatever type of influence she used to woo the past assassinators.

She knows Piper’s awake, though the controlled rise and fall of her stomach pressed up against her hand should lead her to believe otherwise. It takes a while before she shifts, and Reyna immediately halts.

“It’s been one month.” Piper mumbles, though her voice isn’t drowsy, just in slight disbelief.

“And? I never thought you’d be so keen on anniversaries.” Reyna replies smoothly, but she can’t bring herself to fight the way her voice cracks helplessly towards the end of her sentence.

“You held out.” Piper doesn’t even bother to crack a smile at her feeble attempt at a joke, turning to face Reyna, her expression screwed up confusedly.

“This isn’t about the deadline.” Reyna finds herself saying, meeting the other girls’ eyes.

“Everything about us is about them. We’re here because of them.”

“We don’t have to be.” Reyna murmurs, reaching a trembling hand out to brush Piper’s tangled hair away from her face. This is as close to begging as she’s going to get, and Piper’s expression shifts knowingly.

“We couldn’t escape the agencies for long, and you know that.” She points out, though Reyna can sense that her will to fight is diminishing.

“I’d be happy.” She cuts Piper off because she can continue, her gaze serious. “We could be happy, for as long as we’re able.”

“Are you, Reyna?”

“Am I what?”

“Happy?”

“More than, Piper.”

Piper bites her lip, and the two stare at each other for a while, completely still, waiting for each other to make a move.

“You’re making this difficult for me.” She says with a sigh after what feels like years of waiting.

Reyna knows the outcome of them, so she doesn’t bother pleading, just bows her head slightly.

“I really wish—“She begins, and Reyna shakes her head sadly.

“I know, I wish it could’ve worked, too.”

Piper reaches over on her nightstand to open the drawer, pulling out the gun that Reyna witnessed on the first day, her hands trembling. Reyna foresaw this, but it doesn’t hurt any less.

The barrel of the gun presses against her forehead, and the click of the bullet falling into place forces Reyna to finally close her eyes.

“Say it, Piper.”

“I love you.”

She fires the gun.


End file.
